What is GOLO??
What is Golo?
Golo for Life® weight loss plan and supplement. What is it and can it work for bariatric surgery patients?
GOLO Weight Loss Program- how does GOLO work?
I’ve become like my mother in more ways than I can count. (Not to worry, this is great news.)
In the 90s, Mom could often be found folding laundry to Days of Our Lives. Me? I prefer Hallmark movies while sorting my piles.
And while matching all the socks, I started to see GOLO commercials. “Diets don’t work, GOLO does!” “It’s not hard, it’s easy and it will change your life.”
“But what IS it?” I yell back at the TV. Another sign of Mom. I started researching because I needed to know, and so I could share it with you.
In this article, we will look specifically at:
Who is behind GOLO
What it is recommending
Can fit within bariatric eating guidelines.
These are the three questions I ask anytime I review an eating plan. You can find posts on other popular diets such as Keto, Intermittent Fasting, WW, Noom, and more linked here.
My newest course “After the Honeymoon: Managing Regained Weight after Bariatric Surgery” is coming in Late April! Join the waitlist and be the first to know when it launches!
What is the backstory of GOLO? Who created it?
This is my favorite place to start because it allows me to know the credibility. Sometimes a diet plan or supplement will be very hard to find who is really behind it which is a RED FLAG.
Weight loss is a 225 billion dollar industry and everyone wants their piece of the sugar-free pie. You can weed out a lot of diet plans or messages when you ask who are you and where you come from.
In the case of GOLO, it seems they have founders with medical and scientific-based backgrounds. It’s more promising initially compared to an unnamed company without a face.
The GOLO president, Jennifer Brooks is a Board Certified Holistic Nutrition, Chef, and Certified Dietary Supplement Professional. She has a degree in Culinary Arts.
These things do sound impressive but I would be remiss to not point out that these certifications are not degrees. I am biased in this, but I’m indeed a huge advocate for my profession. Dietitians have one to two advanced degrees in nutrition and a year-long internship before they sit for their boards. It’s why we are the only nutrition professionals with medical licenses who can be employed in a hospital.
My point is not to toot my horn but to highlight that certifications may sound impressive, but are worth looking into. “Board certified” can mean a lot of things but doesn’t always mean a medical board.
That being said, the GOLO website said the team also includes physicians and pharmacists. The team seems to focus on insulin resistance and improving hormone balance with a two-part approach. Let’s chat about that next.
How much does GOLO cost and how does it work?
The GOLO for life plan is a two-part approach. They recommend an eating plan (more on that in a moment) and a natural supplement called Release.
One bottle of Release cost $60 and provides 90 capsules. One capsule is to be taken with each meal so that one bottle lasts one month.
The GOLO for Life® plan and free support are included with the purchase of the supplement.
What is in the supplement you ask?
7 natural plant-based ingredients and 3 minerals. They are proven to be safe. Studies are showing the safety of each of the ingredients and some studies show the supplement works for weight loss. Although it should be noted the study was sponsored by the company. (Which I do understand. How else do you show your product works if you don’t sponsor someone to study it?)
My hot take on supplements is that they are often high dollar for low research that it does anything. I’m also hesitant to recommend supplements like these because they don’t have to require FDA approval. They are not regulated like medication.
What about the food? What does GOLO have you eat with the plant pill?
Golo is focused on controlling insulin for better metabolism. Many other eating plans will focus on how to minimize the release of insulin.
This is a big deal because insulin inhibits the body to burn fat.
Intermittent fasting is focused on periods of fasting to limit how often insulin is being released after eating a meal. The fasting periods allow the body to be in a lower insulin state for longer. You can read more about Intermittent Fasting and bariatric surgery here.
Like many other websites, the GOLO site makes it hard to see what to eat. Partly because they want you to buy before they send you all the food lists. I had to glean information from third-party websites to understand the food portion.
In the end, GOLO wants you to focus on a balanced diet. They encourage whole, unprocessed foods such as lean protein sources, healthy fats, whole grains, veggies, and fruits. They discourage foods with added sugars, artificial sweeteners, baked goods, sugary drinks, and such.
In the end, it has very similar approaches to WW or Noom in many ways but the primary focus is to sell its Release supplement.
Can GOLO fit within the bariatric eating guidelines?
Here we go, time to dig in people.
The first question of who is behind GOLO wasn’t terrible and at least allowed me to keep reading.
The second question about what they were recommending wasn’t a big problem because they’re recommending a balanced diet without processed foods. That’s fine by me, not sure you need a supplement to see results with that eating style!
But here we are question #3 and here’s the kicker.
The supplement contains 10 mg of Zinc…PER CAPSULE.
This can make things confusing for bariatric surgery vitamins. You see, the recommendation from the ASMBS (American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) is 1 mg of Copper for every 8-15 mg of elemental zinc to prevent copper deficiency.
That means, adding in Release (and spending $60 a month) you would have 30 mg extra of Zinc and would then need to add additional copper. You would need to sit down with all your other bariatric vitamins and find your ratio of zinc to copper (ideally with your dietitian).
Without additional copper, this amount of extra zinc could cause a copper deficiency.
In the end, I would not recommend GOLO because of the zinc content in the supplement (and the cost).
But here is the good news friends.
You don’t need another supplement to lose more weight or to lose regained weight after your bariatric surgery.
Bariatric surgery is the most effective weight loss option and that doesn’t mean just the honeymoon year. Once you have the tool, you always have the tool. You did not stretch it (more on that here) and getting back to basics would be far more effective than starting a new eating program with a new pamphlet and a new $ 60-a-month bottle of plant pills.
I spoke at a support group recently about popular diets including Keto, Noom, and several others. When I was finished, one of the post-ops there said “I had surgery so I didn’t have to sign up for things like that ever again.”
To her, I tipped my hat.
I want you to hear this. Losing weight past the honeymoon period IS possible. You CAN still use your surgery. You don’t need a new diet plan. Just ask my Premier Access Members, and they will tell you it’s true!
Check out these reviews of other Popular Diets after Bariatric Surgery
Sources:
Forbes Magazine. (2023, March 23). Golo Diet Review (2023): Cost, benefits and more. Forbes. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/health/body/golo-diet-review/#:~:text=Foods%20to%20Eat%20on%20the%20GOLO%20Diet&text=Animal%20protein%3A%20beef%2C%20chicken%2C,grains%3A%20brown%20rice%20and%20quinoa
Very helpful information. Thank you for sharing. I too had been wondering if Golo was good or not. I won’t be buying it for sure now.
Thanks for this information. I didn’t know about the zinc to copper ratio. I recently had all my levels checked and am good, and also not interested in a plant pill to add to my regimen.